This day in history: Under supervision from probation officer, 6 teens were trained to pickup trash under water

From 1975: Six juvenile delinquents, age 16 to 17, were engaged in an unusual kind of public service: They were scuba diving into West Medical Lake.

Their job, according to their probation officer, was to gather trash and debris from the bottom of the lake. After they finished with the lake, they were scheduled to make similar garbage-collecting dives in the Little Spokane River.

They had previously worked in a more traditional roadside trash crew, while they took lessons to become certified professional divers.

The program, funded by a Department of Ecology grant, already was deemed a resounding success.

“They’re accomplishing things,” their probation officer said. “I’ve seen enormous increase in their sense of self-worth.”

They were also accomplishing something for the lake. One day, they filled 35 large sacks of trash.

From 1925: Where is the vermiform appendix found?

What kind of muscles do we find in the heart?

Name the place where arteries are nearest the surface of the body?

These were a few of the questions posed to 100 prospective teachers taking the physiology exam, in pursuit of a state teaching certificate.

The exam, held three times a year, was taking place at Lewis and Clark High School. Physiology was the first of many subjects on which they would be tested. They would soon be moving on to orthography, bookkeeping, geography, biology, grammar, Latin, penmanship, punctuation and geology.